I love your website and the story how you started your
wood floor business, it's so candid and useful.

Thanks.

I've been attempting to fix the wooden floors at my house.
Our house is about 8 or 9 years old.
I believe our wooden floors are not waxed. I let a few
drops of water sit on the floor and it does not turn
white...is that a good test?

I use paint thinner (mineral spirits)to test floors.
Paint thinner will turn wax white. If your floors are
8 or 9 years old it's highly unlikely they are waxed
anyway unless a homeowner waxed them.

Anyways... I have different varying problems and so
far

Actually you have the same problem in all the spots you
indicated below. You have worn thru the finish and
water is starting to discolor the wood.

I have bought a lot of stuff but have not had the guts
to use them yet.

I get the impression that you are looking for a
shortcut to sanding and refinishing your floors. All
the "stuff" is not the answer. You need to rent a
drumsander and edger and just start over and stop
tormenting yourself. Or hire a professional to work
with you or hire a professional to do the whole job.
If you have a Home Depot near you I would recommend the
equipment they rent in their stores that have a
complete rental store right in the store. The EZ 8 is
an excellent tool for beginners.

So if you could give me direction
and advice, I think that would give me the confidence
to finally try. I live in Connecticut, just to give
you an idea of the weather and stuff that can get onto
our wooden floors (salt from the winter, etc). Our
floors have never been refinished or resurfaced.

I learned the trade in Upstate New York. I worked on a
lot of gym floors in the Hartford school system. I am
very familiar with the Connecticut climate.

Problem Area #1: Front Door
There's a lot of traffic and the top layer of finish
is gone in some spots. And the color of the wood is
turning from a warm brown to a light pale brown
color.

Solution to Problem area #1 sand and refinish entire
floor.

Problem Area #2: Desk Area
I have a chair there and there's a lot of scratches
and
it's wearing down the floor. Almost looks like a
pattern of flaking off from where the chair has been.
And the color is changing also as it flakes off. I
also see this type of wearing down at the top of the
stair case. Looks very similar.

Solution to Problem area #2 sand and refinish entire
floor.

Problem Area #3: Sliding Door next to Pool
This area is worn out like the Front Door area.
Probably from the water which sits there from people
walking through

Solution to Problem area #3 sand and refinish entire
floor.

If you could give me or lead me to specific advice for
each problem. And when I would need to use the small
hand held sander I bought or if there can be an easier
way?

A hand sander will not be aggressive enough to fix the
problems you have and even if it could you will see a
difference where you sand and where you don't sand.
Finish will discolor over a period of 8 or 9 years.
Any place you "patch fix" will look new and will
contrast to where you don't fix.

I'm sure you're an extremely busy man, so I
apprecaite any help you can give me. But I'm truly a
beginner so I would need specific instructions.

Thanks

The link on "How to sand a wood floor" on my website
has a lot of good information. If you need some
guidance on tricks of using a drum sander and edger
send me an email.

CareerBuilder.com has over 400,000 jobs. Be smarter
about your job search
CareerBuilder.com

If you would like to reciprocate links with this webpage send me an email.

Mobil Flooring, Inc. was started to
help contractors, builders, and everyday consumers find the best Home
Improvement products at the lowest costs possible.

Antik Hotel is a four star hotel
located in the old city center of Istanbul. You can experience 4 different
civilizations -the Roman, the Byzantion, the Ottoman and the Turkish Republic-
as the hotel carries small details of these periods. You can also see the archaelogical ruins
of the cistern that is exhibited at the lobby. Living Istanbul’s magic by
travelling in the history will be a great experience with Antik Hotel.